Swine flu: Thousands of children could be forced to sit exams in quarantine

Thousands of children could be forced to sit exams in quarantine to stop the spread of swine flu.

Parents picking their children up from schoolPhoto: AFP

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

8:00AM BST 02 May 2009

Ofqual, the testing watchdog, said schools across the UK would be expected to draw up "contingency plans" for A-levels, GCSEs and Sats exams in the event of outbreak.

It includes shutting down completely and sitting tests in small groups elsewhere. In extreme cases, it is thought pupils with the virus may have qualifications graded using coursework marks.

The Government also urged colleges and universities to set up "flu buddy" schemes to ensure students look out for friends showing early symptoms.

The disclosure came as a second school was closed and a third was put on alert over possible cases of swine flu.

Downend School, Bristol, was shut and pupils were given antiviral drugs after it emerged a girl had contracted the virus. She is believed to have been on same flight from Mexico as a Scottish couple confirmed with the first case of swine flu in Britain earlier this week.

Officials from the Health Protection Agency also moved into Ounsdale High School, south Staffordshire, after a 12-year-old returned from Mexico with suspected H1N1 influenza. All 1,200 students were given basic health advice and letters were sent to parents warning them to be on the look-out for symptoms.

It comes just days after a secondary school in Torbay, Devon, was shut down when another 12-year-old girl contracted swine flu following a holiday in Mexico.

Paignton Community and Sports College will be closed until May 11 to stop the spread of the virus after the HPA found the girl had been in contact with 50 classmates and other people.

Ofqual, which covers England, released a joint statement alongside exam regulators in Wales and Northern Ireland, saying "schools and colleges will be made aware of the appropriate contingency plans if they need to take any action with regard to examinations or national curriculum tests".

Some 1.2 million English primary school children are due to take Sats tests this month. More than 600,000 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will take GCSEs in May and June and around 300,000 will sit A-levels.

If schools are closed, advice is likely to include moving exams to another building for a small number of pupils.

Meanwhile, guidance has also been sent out by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Colleges and universities are told: "In the event of an outbreak of pandemic flu, you should assess the impact of the disease upon your organisation."

Advice includes closing the institution altogether, cancelling lectures to stop large numbers of students gathering and setting up a "flu buddy" scheme in which students look out for a friend and report early symptoms to officials.